April 6, 2010

Local Memes: Russell’s Mom (part 2)

After laying the groundwork in part 1, I started thinking about what actually makes Russell’s mom a meme. If you define the meme as most of Rosemary’s Facebook output, then the concepts of variation and replication play an important part. Rosemary’s Facebook posts often concern UConn sports teams and her family, all in her own unique style. These topics, and other recurring elements like the Maya doll and her propensity for Daisy Dukes, give followers of the meme a sort of touchstone, but the actual content changes with each post. Because people know what to expect from her, there is a sense of familiarity and a sense of anticipation.

Maya the Husky doll makes another appearance

I think the most important factor in the Rosemary meme is the replication and spread of her Facebook postings. While most were introduced to her via Russell’s wall and then her own Facebook page, she has not been content to just stay there. Originally, we were the ones who went to her wall or Russell’s wall to see her latest post. Now, she has started posting in a few of the Facebook groups we use for classes, like our own class page and the group about college gambling used in one of Professor Dufresne’s classes. That her post on the gambling group’s wall seems to be directed to Russell (not a member of that class) and not the group adds to the meme.

Another recurring element, the UConn christmas tree (recently put in the front yard to 'let people know the women are playing')

The key to the Rosemary meme has been it’s proliferation. While her overall output has been at turns humorous and engrossing, the most endearing part has been her slow, steady spread into the Facebook lives of her followers.

Like this:

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Dear Hancock’s class,
it may not make any sense to you why we read Russell’s mom’s Facebook, but it all started at the beginning of the year. You see, Rosemary perpetually comments the same things to Russell on his wall… “check your inbox” she’d write every other day…or she’d write him a to-do list and sign it as “Husky Mom.” She’d also write “LOL” in every post or “HUGS” in quotes. Memes are all about repetition, and it was her constant barrage of seemingly embarrassing comments such as these that caught the eye of Russell’s Facebook friends. Pretty soon Rosemary was posting videos and photos and writing on group walls…Facebook wasn’t just for fawning over Russell anymore. Notes started to appear recounting psychic dreams she had or slightly inappropriate innuendos to her husband Bob on his wall (who also soon became like a Meme due to his singing prowess on Rosemary’s videos and his love of John Deere tractors). The thing is, it’s like a TV show, I mean you just really are drawn into her little world: watching her fall on ice, talk to her cat or jump in a lake with her clothes on…her Jasper Howard/ UConn women’s bballl obsession….it’s all part of the character she’s created. And we can’t get enough.